McDonald's Closes Restaurants In Crimea

By Michelle Clifford, Senior News Correspondent

McDonald's has announced the closure of its restaurants in Crimea, prompting fears of a backlash as a prominent Moscow politician called for all the US fast-food chain's outlets in Russia to be shut.

Russia's actions in Crimea, which Ukraine and the West condemn, has worried companies with assets in the Black Sea peninsula as it is unclear how the change may impact their business.

While McDonald's did not mention the political situation in its statement, its decision to leave the region is a further sign of the rift in Western-Russian relations.

The company said simply: "Due to operational reasons beyond our control, McDonald's has taken the decision to temporarily close our three restaurants in Simferopol, Sevastopol and Yalta."

The Crimean outlets are not franchises, but owned and operated by McDonald's itself.

Earlier this week Geneva-based Universal Postal Deutsche Post announced that it was no longer accepting letters bound for Crimea as it could no longer guarantee delivery to the region.

A Russian tank near Simferopol in Crimea

Economic relations between Russia and Ukraine have deteriorated rapidly since Russia annexed Crimea last month in response to the ousting of Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych.

Russia raised the price it charges Ukraine for gas on this week - piling pressure on its neighbour as it teeters on the brink of bankruptcy.

McDonald's said it would try to relocate staff

Moscow has frequently used energy as a political weapon in dealing with its neighbours, and European customers are now concerned Russia might again cut off deliveries.

Ukraine this week temporarily banned seven Russian food companies from selling some of their products on Ukrainian territory.

McDonald's said it hoped to resume work as soon as possible but said it would help relocate staff to work in mainland Ukraine - a sign it did not expect its Crimean businesses to reopen in the near future.

The company's decision was welcomed by the deputy speaker of the Russian parliament, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, known for his anti-Western rhetoric, who demanded that McDonald's pull its business out of Russia entirely.

"It would be good if they closed here too ... If they disappeared for good. Pepsi-Cola would be next," he said, adding that his party would organise pickets at McDonald's restaurants across the country.

McDonald's, which currently operates more than 400 restaurants in Russia, was the first international fast-food chain to tap the Russian market when it opened in Moscow's Pushkin Square before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

That branch had the highest sales and served the most customers of any McDonald's outlet in 2012.

Mighty Taco has banned Vladimir Putin from its western New York outlets

A Russian backlash against McDonald's products would have a significant impact on company profits.

McDonald's sees Russia as one of its top seven major markets outside the United States and Canada. And many Russian food suppliers could face financial hardship if their biggest market is interrupted long term.

Meanwhile, the Buffalo, New York-based Mighty Taco has banned Mr Putin from all of its 23 locations in western New York.

The Mexican food chain made the announcement on social media, saying the Russian leader will be "welcomed back" at Mighty Taco when he stops acting like a bully and "picking on people".

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Serial Killer Is Executed Amid Drug Debate

A serial killer who could have committed as many as 70 murders across the US has been put to death.

Tommy Lynn Sells' execution in Texas took place amid a growing debate over where the state gets its lethal injection drugs.

The 49-year-old was convicted of capital murder in 2000 for the death of Kaylene Harris and slashing of her 10-year-old friend, Krystal Surles, who survived and helped police find Sells.

The girls were attacked on New Year's Eve 1999 as they slept in the home of Kaylene's family in Del Rio, about 150 miles (240km) west of San Antonio.

The Harris family had befriended Sells at a community church.

Court records show Sells claimed to have committed as many as 70 killings across the US, including young girls.

In 2003, Sells was indicted but never tried for the slaying of 13-year-old Stephanie Mahaney in Missouri.

He also pleaded guilty to capital murder in the 1999 death of nine-year-old Mary Bea Perez, who was strangled during an outdoor festival in Texas.

Sells was the first inmate to be injected with a dose of newly replenished pentobarbital that Texas prison officials obtained to replace an expired supply of the powerful sedative.

He was pronounced dead at 6.27pm local time (12.27am UK Time), 13 minutes after being given the pentobarbital.

Sells' lawyers had sought more information from Texas authorities about the supplier of the new drug stock.

They argued they needed to know the name of the pharmacy in order to verify the drug's quality and protect Sells from unconstitutional pain and suffering.

State prison officials maintained the pharmacy must be kept secret to protect it from threats of violence.

The Supreme Court had declined to halt the execution.

Questions about the source of execution drugs have arisen in several states in recent months as numerous drug makers - particularly in Europe, where opposition to capital punishment is strongest - have refused to sell their products if they will be used in executions.

Some states have used untested new drug cocktails. In some cases this has led to accusations of cruelty as the inmates suffered for several minutes before dying.

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Schumacher Showing 'Moments Of Awakening'

Formula One ace Michael Schumacher is showing "moments of consciousness and awakening," according to his agent.

The 45-year-old has been in an induced coma since suffering a serious head injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps resort of Meribel in December.

"Michael is making progress on his way. He shows moments of consciousness and awakening," Sabine Kehm said.

"We are on his side during his long and difficult fight, together with the team of the hospital in Grenoble, and we keep remaining confident."

Earlier this week, Ms Kehm told German newspaper Bild: "There are signs that give us encouragement."

The paper also quoted her as denying reports Schumacher's family are building a special medical facility to help care for him at their home.

Schumacher was reportedly travelling at speeds of up to 60mph when the accident happened, and is thought to have been saved by his skiing helmet, which split on impact.

The racing legend's chief doctor said last week that it was unlikely he would ever fully recover from the accident.

Doctor Gary Hartstein wrote on his blog: "As time goes on, it becomes less and less likely that Michael will emerge to any significant extent."

Schumacher left motor racing last year after a disappointing three-year comeback following an earlier retirement from Ferrari at the end of 2006.

Sky's F1 reporter Craig Slater, reporting from Bahrain where the grand prix event is due to take place this weekend, said: "This is a significant step forward it seems though it does fly in the face of recent reports about the state of his health.

"This is a positive step though far from any insurance he is going to make a full recovery.

"Doctors had told the Schumacher family that only a miracle could save him but the news has been greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm and brightened everyone's mood.

"I've spoken to representatives from Schumacher's team at Ferrari; from the lowliest mechanic upwards, they're delighted with the news."

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Missing Plane: Malaysia 'Concealing Information'

The Malaysian government has been deliberately concealing information about missing flight MH370, the country's main opposition leader has claimed.

In an interview with Sky News, Anwar Ibrahim cast doubt on official accounts coming from the authorities in his country and accused ministers of a "betrayal of trust" over their handling of the investigation.

Anwar's comments came as Australian authorities launched the underwater phase of the search - but they admitted time is running out to detect pings from the plane's black box recorder.

Anwar said the MH370 investigation has been "clearly suspect"

Veteran politician Anwar said it was "not only unacceptable but not possible, not feasible" that the plane had not been sighted by the sophisticated Marconi radar system immediately after it changed course.

He claimed the radar would have instantly detected the jet as it travelled east to west across "at least four" Malaysian provinces.

He told Sky: "There is no reason as to why they are not able to detect the flight movement.

Zaharie Ahmad Shah was the MH370 pilot

"If you can allow this to happen, then it is a betrayal of the people's trust. You cannot rely on an incompetent ministry to decide on our own security.

"They will have to explain. If they can't, they will have to tell us why this vital piece of information has been concealed from the general public and international community."

He added: "The system is opaque in the sense that they are used to a very compliant media, compliant judiciary, which will only question at the behest of the ruling establishment.

"When the information is available why not cooperate with international authorities and release it?"

Anwar, who personally knew MH370 pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, has called for an international committee to take over the Malaysian-led operation, saying "the integrity of the whole nation is at stake".

He indicated it was even possible that there was "complicity by authorities on the ground" in what happened to the plane and the 239 people on board.

A Malaysian government spokesman responded to Anwar's comments, saying: "Anwar has made numerous unfounded allegations criticising Malaysia.

"Instead of trying to exploit the MH370 tragedy to score political points, it would be constructive if he could support the government as it coordinates the multinational search operation for MH370."

Anwar was sentenced to five years in jail just hours before MH370 took off after his acquittal on sodomy charges was overturned.

He is currently on bail and claims the charges against him are a political smear.

Attention has been focused on pilot Mr Zaharie's link to Anwar, with allegations he may have hijacked his own plane in response to the politician's sentencing.

But Mr Zaharie's friends and family have rejected the reports that he was deeply upset by the Anwar case or that he was a political fanatic. 

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott have pledge that no effort would be spared to give the families of those on board the answers they need.

Mr Razak met with Mr Abbott at an airbase near Perth

The two countries are heading multinational efforts in the Indian Ocean in the hunt for debris to solve the mystery of the jet, which vanished on March 8.

Mr Razak, whose government has been harshly criticised by some victims' families for giving sometimes conflicting information about the flight and for the slow pace of the investigation, described the search as a "gargantuan task".

But he insisted there would be no let up for the sake of the victims' families.

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Underwater Plane Search 'Is Desperate Move'

The latest underwater phase of the hunt for missing flight MH370 is a "desperate move" with limited chance of success, experts have claimed.

Marine salvage and radar experts laid out the scale of the challenge facing search teams, after Australian Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston announced plans to use black box pinger locators deep in the southern Indian Ocean.

Speaking on Sky News, radar expert Professor David Stupples said the pinger locators would be able to cover just 150 square miles a day, in an overall search area of around 87,000 square miles.

A pinger locator can detect signals from the flight recorder

Marine salvage expert John Noble told Sky's Ian Woods the latest phase suggested authorities were getting "desperate" in their search for the plane.

He said: "It's a desperate last-minute move because they know the pinger is going to run out within the next few days and if they don't give it a go now they'll never find it using these techniques."

As the extensive search wears on, Malaysia's opposition leader has accused the government of deliberately concealing information about the missing plane.

A pinger locator being towed by Australia's Ocean Shield vessel

In an interview with Sky News, Anwar Ibrahim, who personally knew the pilot of the missing plane, cast doubt on official accounts coming from Malaysian authorities.

The hunt for wreckage is relying on the plane's black box recorders emitting pings that can be detected by equipment on board the ships.

But the battery-powered recorders stop transmitting about 30 days after a crash.

With the clock ticking down since MH370 went missing on March 8, Mr Houston acknowledged time is running out for search crews.

He said: "The locater beacon will last about a month before it ceases its transmissions - so we're now getting pretty close to the time when it might expire."  

Locating the data recorders and wreckage after the devices stop working is possible, but incredibly difficult.

The area the ships are searching was chosen based on hourly satellite pings the aircraft gave off after it vanished from radar on its route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

That information, combined with data on the estimated speed and performance of the aircraft, had led them to that specific part of the ocean, Mr Houston said.

Ships with helicopters on board have been helping with the search

Because the US Navy's pinger locator can pick up black box signals up to a depth of 6,100m (20,000ft), it should be able to hear the devices even if they are lying in the deepest part of the search zone - about 5,800m (19,000 ft) below the surface - if it gets within range of the black boxes.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Tireless is assisting with the search and has powerful equipment that could detect a black box at up to 10 miles away - but it can only operate to a depth of around 400m.

Finding floating wreckage is key to narrowing the search area, as officials can then use data on ocean currents to try and backtrack to the spot where the Boeing 777 entered the water - and where the data recorders may be.

For relatives of passengers on flight MH370, the agonising wait goes on

Despite weeks of fruitless searching, Mr Houston said he hadn't given up hope something would be found.

"I think there's still a great possibility of finding something on the surface," he said. "There's lots of things in aircraft that float."

The search area has shifted each day, as the investigative team continues to analyse available radar and satellite data while factoring in where any debris may have drifted due to ocean currents and weather.

Although Australia is coordinating the ocean search, the investigation into the plane's disappearance ultimately remains Malaysia's responsibility.

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British Man's Body Found On Spanish Beach

A British man believed to have been kidnapped by men posing as police officers in Spain has been found dead.

Francis Brennan, 25, from Anfield, fled to Spain ahead of a sentencing date last October for an assault he committed in the Thames Valley area in 2012.

Police say his body was found on a beach in the La Zenia area of Alicante on Saturday.

Spanish authorities are investigating Brennan's death and his family and girlfriend have been informed.

Brennan was last seen in Alicante on January 24. He was in his friend's car when it was stopped, and Brennan was detained by several men who claimed to be police officers.

Mr Brennan was found dead in Alicante

Brennan's parents, Carl and Janet, realised he had been kidnapped when Spanish authorities told them he had not been arrested. 

At the time of his kidnapping they said: "This has come as an awful shock to us as Francis is our only son and we can still remember him as a fun-loving child who was football-mad in a football-mad family who loved nothing more than playing out with his friends."

They said they had pleaded with their son not to leave the country, but he did not listen.

"He told us not to worry and that he would be home after Christmas," they said.

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David Cameron Repeats Backing For TV Debates

David Cameron has reiterated he is in favour of having television debates before the next election in 2015.

The Prime Minister told Sky News he continued to support the idea he agreed to before the last General Election in 2010.

"I think they're very useful," he said. "What I've said is that I think last time they rather overtook and swallowed up the rest of the campaign.

"So let's look at maybe - now we've got fixed-term parliaments - starting a bit earlier.

"But our teams will get into talks and we should get on with that in the autumn."

David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown during the Sky News debate

Labour leader Ed Miliband and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg have both said they will take part.

Mr Cameron has previously indicated UKIP leader Nigel Farage - whose party is in third place in the polls ahead of the Lib Dems - should not take part.

Three separate debates were broadcast by Sky News, the BBC and ITV before polling day four years ago.

Mr Clegg enjoyed an unparalleled surge in support after debating Mr Cameron and the then Labour leader Gordon Brown for the first time.

One poll had him as the most popular party leader since Winston Churchill.

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Yellowstone Bison Spark Volcano Eruption Fears

Rangers have been forced to say there is no evidence Yellowstone's supervolcano is about to blow, after a YouTube video of a herd of bison dashing through the park sparked fears of an imminent eruption.

The video, filmed by Leo Leckie, who has been visiting Yellowstone for two decades, led to speculation the herd had sensed volcanic activity beneath the park's caldera.

Nearly 150,000 people have watched the video since it was posted.

The internet rumours gathered pace when a 4.8-magnitude earthquake - the largest to hit the area in more than 30 years - was recorded weeks after the video was shot.

But Al Nash, a spokesman for Yellowstone National Park, said: "We have heard about some pretty wild rumours - including one concerning the animals.

Thousands of bison live in Yellowstone National Park

"We do have bison, elk and other animals that have moved outside the park recently, but they're doing that because we're in the depths of winter and food is a little hard to find in places.

"At this time of year, they tend to migrate to lower elevations where they think there might be something to eat that's easier to get at.

"When the snow melts off and things start to green up, those very same animals will walk right back into the park."

According to the US Geological Service (USGS), there has been an uplift in earthquake activity around Yellowstone's caldera.

The supervolcano last exploded into life 70,000 years ago and an eruption is likely to deposit huge quantities of ash across much of the country.

Scientists have noticed a recent increase in seismic activity. Pic: USGS

Yellowstone lies in the middle of the North American plate - one of several which make the so-called 'ring of fire', which stretches around the Pacific Ocean.

There are fears recent tremors in Chile and Los Angeles, California, both of which lie on the horseshoe-shaped boundary, could be a precursor for the huge earthquake scientists have long been predicting.

However, Mr Nash said there were "no signs" tectonic activity was about to cause Yellowstone's volcano to erupt.

"We see between 1,000 and 3,000 earthquakes a year in Yellowstone and most of them are so small no one ever feels them," he said.

"We've had this recent earthquake near the Norris geyser basin, but there were no injuries or damage and ... it's just part of the geology of Yellowstone."

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Sir Bruce Admits TV's Strictly 'A Strain'

Sir Bruce Forsyth has told Sky News he feels it is the "right time" to step down as presenter of the BBC TV series Strictly Come Dancing, admitting the live shows had been a "strain".

But the 86-year-old entertainer, who fronted the popular Saturday night programme for a decade, insisted he was not retiring, with plans for a documentary about his late friend Sammy Davis Jnr, and a series of one-man shows.

He will also still work on pre-recorded Strictly shows for Christmas and Children In Need as well as one-off BBC specials.

Sir Bruce's future on the show has been the subject of speculation in recent months, having scaled back on his work schedule, including stepping down from the weekly results programme.

Sir Bruce with his Strictly co-star Tess Daly

The veteran star, whose career as a performer spans more than 70 years, said: "I just feel it's the right time. I am leaving at the very top.

"It's a bit of a strain - live television. It's a pressure doing it live.

"I am certainly not retiring. It's not a goodbye from being in show business."

The bookies favourite to replace him and take up the reins as the new host is ballroom dancer Anton Du Beke. Other front-runners include Vernon Kay and Claudia Winkleman.

But Sir Bruce joked: "The obvious replacement for me is Boris Johnson (the Mayor of London). I think he would do a great job."

BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore said: "Sir Bruce Forsyth is one of the great showbiz legends of our time and Strictly's success is due in vast amounts to him.

"I am so pleased he will continue to be part of the Strictly family and promise viewers that we haven't seen the last of him on BBC1."

The veteran entertainer received his knighthood from the Queen in 2011

Only last week at an awards ceremony, Sir Bruce, who has just returned from Puerto Rico, said no decision had been made about his future on the show.

He said: "When I calm down a bit I will then think about it and will see what's in the melting pot."

Sir Bruce started in show business aged just 14, with a song, dance, and accordion act called Boy Bruce, the Mighty Atom.

He rose to fame through the 1950s series Sunday Night at the London Palladium, going on to present series such as The Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right, The Price Is Right and You Bet!.

He earned a new generation of fans when he returned to the screen to front Strictly back in 2004.

He was knighted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace in 2011.

The entertainer is also known for his memorable catchphrases including "Nice to see you, to see you nice"; "Good game, good game!" and "Didn't he do well?".

Strictly Come Dancing will return in the autumn. The last series was won by model Abbey Clancy and also featured TV presenter Susanna Reid and singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

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PM Accused Of 'Misleading Public' Over Miller

David Cameron has been accused of "misleading the public" over the Maria Miller expenses scandal.

In an interview with Sky News, the Prime Minister said that independent members on Parliament's Standards Committee - and not MPs - had made the "casting vote" on how the Culture Secretary should be dealt with after an expenses investigation.

He said that MPs had not been allowed to "police themselves" after it emerged that the committee, which is made up of cross party politicians alongside lay members, had downgraded the amount Mrs Miller should be asked to repay.

However, it is clear from the rules governing the committee that independent committee members do not get a vote on how MPs are dealt with.

Maria Miller issued a brief apology on Thursday

Labour MP John Mann, who initially reported Mrs Miller to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, said: "This is the man who said he wanted to clean up politics. Clearly he doesn't understand the system of self regulation and has mislead the public.

"He should write a letter to Maria Miller to inform her she is leaving the Cabinet."

Downing Street admitted the Prime Minister had made a mistake in suggesting lay members had made the decision on Mrs Miller's treatment.

Mrs Miller has kept her job after issuing a 32-second apology on Thursday for over-claiming thousands on a second home and her poor attitude to the sleaze watchdog's expenses investigation.

Labour MP John Mann: claim is misleading

She was asked to repay just £5,800 in expenses she had wrongly claimed for a second home after the 10-member standards committee overruled the standards commissioner's findings that she should pay back £45,000.

Speaking during a visit to Devon, Mr Cameron said: "MPs aren't policing themselves, we have now got a committee that has independent members on and effectively they had the casting vote and what this committee has decided - and it's not my decision it's the committee's decision - they decided that Maria Miller had not done what she was accused of doing.

"They cleared her of that, they found that she had made mistakes that she herself admitted to and actually helped to discover so they asked her to repay money, which she has done, and they asked her for an apology, which she has made."

When asked if he had treated her differently because she was a woman, he said: "I am not treating Maria Miller any differently from anyone else in the Cabinet."

The Labour MP Thomas Docherty has now written to the Metropolitan Police asking it to investigate Mrs Miller's expenses claims.

Mr Cameron's comments came after his spin chief Craig Oliver was forced to deny attempting to quash the story about Mrs Miller's expenses by threatening a newspaper editor.

She has always denied using her oversight of the reforms to press regulation suggested in the Leveson report in a bid to threaten The Daily Telegraph into backing off the story.

Craig Oliver has called the claims 'entirely false'

However, the newspaper's former editor Tony Gallagher has said that not only did Mrs Miller's special adviser threaten a reporter but the Prime Minister's official spokesman also phoned him.

Mr Gallagher told Radio 4's Today Programme: "I then got a third call from [the Downing Street communications director] Craig Oliver, pointing out that she's looking at Leveson and the call is badly timed."

The Daily Telegraph first raised the issue of the involvement of Mr Oliver in December 2012, at the height of the growing scandal surrounding the Tory MP for Basingstoke's expenses.

However, on Friday Mr Oliver responded saying: "It is entirely false to suggest that I tried to threaten him with Leveson in any way.

"The conversation I had with him was about the inappropriate door-stepping of an elderly man (Maria Miller's father)."

Mrs Miller was reported to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards by Mr Mann in December 2012 over concerns she had improperly claimed around £90,000 on a southwest London property between 2005 and 2009.

On Thursday a standards committee report cleared Mrs Miller of wrongly claiming, ruling she was entitled to the allowance on the Wimbledon second home she sold in February for a £1.2m profit.

She was told to repay £5,800 she said were as a result of changes to her mortgage payments caused by falling interest rates, which she had not reflected in her claims.

She was also told to apologise to the House of Commons for her attitude to the investigation, which the report had concluded was unhelpful.

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